Letters from Paul

I am not a major sports fan. I tend to enjoy football the most, but I will, at one time or another, watch just about any sport. Lately, as you know, the basketball playoffs have been on TV and I have watched a total of 2 NBA games all season (both of them playoff games). I know this phrase belongs to the sport of baseball, but recently during the basketball playoffs, I have been “batting a thousand” and I don’t mean in predicting a winner. I just recently blogged about the “It Gets Better Project” which I saw during the first game I watched and last night, I was introduced to another campaign entitled, “ThinkB4YouSpeak” which is, I believe, part of the “GLSEN Sports Project.” I looked up their web address and according to the GLSEN website:

The GLSEN Sports Project is an education and advocacy initiative focused on addressing LGBT issues in K-12 school-based athletic and physical education programs.

The 30 second spot (commercial) had basketball players denounce the phrase, “That’s so gay.” I will have to admit, that the phrase was certainly uttered by me more than once when I was a teenager (as did the vast majority did during the 80’s). We said it among friends when someone in the group did something stupid or ridiculous. Those days are long behind me, but I will have to say that the commercial caught my attention for one particular reason. According to one of the basketball superstars, the reason behind the request to avoid the phrase, “That’s so gay” is that it’s “offensive to homosexuals.” I imagine that from this point on, not only will that phrase no longer be uttered without consequences in the public sector, but it will no longer be in movies, TV shows, and no athlete would think of saying it without fines or public disapproval.

The other day I was watching a recorded program on TV and usually I fast forward through the commercials, but for some reason I did not and then I saw a 30 second spot entitled It Gets Better which was sponsored by GOOGLE Chrome. I was sure I didn’t see what I just saw; so I went back and watched it again to make sure I wasn’t mistaken. I was very surprised this spot aired during primetime and that it aired during the basketball playoffs. I decided to do some research and here is what I found.

According to the It Gets Better Project website, because many young people are bullied each day, they have nowhere to turn. This is especially true for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual) kids and teenagers. The site goes on to say, In many instances, gay and lesbian adolescents are taunted — even tortured — simply for being themselves. The site then lists the names of seven kids that committed suicide because they were gay or perceived to be gay by their peers. The next paragraph is as follows:

While many of these teens couldn’t see a positive future for themselves, we can. The It Gets Better Project was created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach – if they can just get through their teen years. The It Gets Better Project wants to remind teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone — and it WILL get better.

I could not help but think, “What’s the Christian response to such behavior AND to the commercial/project?” Without a doubt, this ad once again demonstrates that we live in a fallen world and apart from the wisdom of God, our solutions concerning sin is at best inadequate and at worse sinful. continue reading more…